Credit: Photo by Gary Miller

Gogol Bordello

Friday, Sept. 26, Zilker Park

Traffic and crowds conspired against me reaching Gogol Bordello’s set on time, but if I hadn’t been late, I wouldn’t have seen the free-spirited, bikini-clad young women jumping off a bridge into Town Lake while the gypsy punk band’s infectious “Super Taranta!” bounced off the water and trees. It was a quintessential Austin late-summer moment, full of promise and energy and celebration of life. Once inside Zilker Park, the crush of humanity set to the soundtrack of the Men-at-Work-meets-dancehall-reggae of “Tribal Connection” took the bloom off the rose, at least for this old curmudgeon. While Gogol Bordello’s goulash of multi-kulti immigrant punk narrative has become popular on the festival circuit, in this context, it lacks the grit and danger of a more intimate club performance, the message lost amid the distractions of feathered stoles and dancers that look like a cross between Coors Light girls and low-impact aerobics instructors.

This article appears in October 3 • 2008.

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